DuelTale: The Final Triumph
by GlitchWarrior
Summary: DuelTale spinoff. After DSOD. Leichter survived the explosion of the Virtual World. Now, he sets up a tournament to prove to Seto Kaiba and his... acquaintances... what kind of person he is. But how far will one man go to get revenge? And worse, how many lives will be lost in the process? Time will only tell.
1. Enter: Leichter!

**I'd like to welcome you to DuelTale, the Final Triumph. It's one of the side series I've been working on, and, if I need it, will serve as an excellent filler arc. It'll be mostly Kaiba-centered, with Azzy-centered bits sprinkled throughout (he IS the main character of DuelTale Reloaded, after all). So without further ado, backstory! It's set after DSOD, so, basically, the whole series. I'll try not to put in spoilers that are too huge, but you never know! If I must, I'll put a massive _SPOILER ALERT_ in between paragraphs. I haven't even planned out all of Season One yet, so keep an open mind.**

Seto Kaiba was tied up. And he didn't deserve it.

"Look," he told the man who was watching him, "If you wanted my autograph, you could've just asked for it. But since you so kindly decided to kidnap me, maybe I should return the favor..."

"That's enough from you, Mr. Kaiba," the voice said. It was familiar, with a southern accent. He raised his fedora, and Kaiba saw, to his sure surprise, a dark-skinned man with a goatee.

"What?" said Seto, surprised. "Leichter?"

He couldn't believe that. The last time the pair had met, Leichter had been blown up on a virtual island when its owner, Seto's stepbrother Noah, sacrificed himself to protect the tall CEO and the other residents of that disastrous game. How had he possibly survived that?

"That's right," Leichter said. "This time, Mr. Kaiba, I'm the one in charge. No throwin' me to the curb this time, I'll grant you that."

"How did you survive the Virtual World?" Seto asked angrily. In addition to the fact previously mentioned, Leichter's very mind had been trapped in said virtual world. He should have been dead!

"Funny story, when the virtual World was disabled..." Leichter let out a sly chuckle. "I woke up. It's odd, since my comrades are all DEAD. And for that, I blame you, Mr. Kaiba."

"Another thing," Kaiba said. "You sound like you've been in there for a lot longer than you say. Is there anything else you wanted to bring up?"

"Actually, yes," Leichter stated. "While I was in the Virtual World, I taught myself how to make a time machine of sorts. Naturally, I figured it wouldn't work in the real world, so I decided to look for an alternative... and wouldn't you know it, in the bowels of your company, Mr. Kaiba, I found exactly what I was lookin' for."

"How did you even get in?"

"You never took away my member's card, Mr. Kaiba."

"Ugh."

"My point is," Leichter finished, "that I've gathered you, your friends, and some of the other best duelists through time and space to compete in this little dueling tournet I've arranged. Win, and I set you free. Lose, and, well, I'd hate to imagine what would happen..."

"What are you saying?" asked Kaiba angrily.

"For your sake, Mr. Kaiba," Leichter said, "I took the liberty of finding the one person you have a heart for. Winnin' duelist gets him _and_ a certain ancient artifact I found to take over his life. And there are some vicious fiends out there..."

No! Not Mokuba!

Kaiba twinged. Leichter had found his weak spot, His former aide wasn't very aideful anymore. And "ancient artifact?" Leichter certainly meant the Millenium Rod once wielded by Marik Ishtar, one of the most ruthless foes Kaiba's old rivals, Yugi Muto and Asriel Dreemur, had ever faced. With any luck (though Kaiba wouldn't admit it), Yugi or maybe Azzy would also be in the tournament, to make it easier to get Mokuba back.

But another question stung in his head. How did Leichter KNOW about the Millenium Rod in the first place? The _worst_ Millenium Item he'd had to face was Yugi's Puzzle, which was securely held by Yugi as a fragment of the past, after the events involving Diva. And there wasn't even a spirit in the puzzle anymore, making it nothing more than a good luck charm.

But the biggest question of all was in Kaiba's head.

"What do you want?"

"I just want comeuppance," Leichter said, "for you abandoning me after I painstakingly helped you obtain that fifty-one percent of KaibaCorp. That, and for you and your friends leaving me to die in that dark abyss your stepbrother called a 'world.' Hence why I brought them."

"So this is all just for revenge?" Kaiba asked. "And tell me, what else do YOU get out of this?"

"I'm also dueling in this tournament," Leichter said, "with a deck that's all but unstoppable, Mr. Kaiba. I've prepped the ultimate tournament, good and bad, and I know I'm the only _real_ goodguy in here. Everyone's done something wrong in their life; heck, I even tried to take your body. But, knowing who you are, I should've been way more careful about that. You and your friends have done worse, Mr. Kaiba, and I'm just bringing justice."

"Listen to yourself!" Kaiba said. "You're practically a madman! Going back in time to bring back dangerous foes who should've later turned away from their ways, kidnapping a young boy to get revenge on his brother- this is being good? I'd hate to see what BAD is for you, Leichter."

"I think you know what I'm talking about, Mr. Kaiba," Leichter said, smirking.

Then, he left the room, letting Kaiba alone.

Without Mokuba.

 _Revenge truly is a dish best served cold, Mr. Kaiba,_ Leichter thought to himself. _And just for you, I'm leaving it in the freezer._

* * *

 **Well, I'm sorry I had to leave you guys hanging on the original for now, and I know this opening was somewhat less than stellar, but I think this is for the best; I won't waste my time coming up with a nonexistent plot for it! Last I checked, Undyne and Asgore were in a helicopter above the ocean, trying to stop a danger that doesn't exist, and the Four-Way... I'm lost... In my own story! WHAT?**

 **This, however, SHOULD be a cleaner re-write. I'll keep it out there for you to see if you want to read it, but certain events in seasons two through four should be problematic. I'll try to update THIS one monthly.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and please, consider reviewing to tell me how you feel.**


	2. Monstrous Surprise

**Typical me, forgetting about DuelTale... Nah, I haven't forgotten. I'm just going to post the next chapter when I'm ready. As I said, Triumph is a side-story to keep me distracted. So, anyway...**

* * *

THE LAST TRIUMPH

CHAPTER TWO

"It's over now!" shouted Yugi Muto energetically. "With no monsters on your field to stop me, I attack your life points directly with my Dark Magician! Dark Magic Attack!"

Yugi was in a duel with a good friend of his, Joseph "Joey" Wheeler. Joey wasn't exactly the studious type, not at all. However, what he lacked in intelligence, he made up for in dueling.

"You ain't layin' a scratch on me, Yug!" he shouted. "I play my trap, Call of the Haunted! With this, I bring back a monster from my Graveyard, so welcome back- Gilford the Lightning!"

Gilford, a mighty, armored warrior, arose. Drawing a thunder-charged sword, he glared at the magician.

"You're improving, Joey," Yugi said. "I set a card face down and end my turn."

Watching from the sidelines, several people had gathered. A few of them happened to be acquaintances of Muto and Wheeler- these being Tristan Taylor, a young man whose lack of duel skill was offest by his brute force, Asriel Dreemur, a dueling prodigy from below the surface whose past was, for the most part, still shrouded in mystery for the two, and Ryou Bakura, the son of a treasure hunter whose last great hunt had more than paid its due several times over. The three boys watched their friends duel with pride, knowing that they were some of the best duelists in the world- Azzy being the only one of the three who could stand toe to toe with these two legends.

"I ain't takin my chances with that face-down," Joey said. "I sacrifice my Gilford to summon Jinzo from my hand!"

"Why?" asked Tristan. "Jinzo can't take the Dark Magician head on!"

"Joey has to have his reasons," Asriel said. "And I think the card Yugi set has something to do with it."

"Still," Bakura added, "why not merely end his turn, or at least set a different monster?"

Their question was about to be answered.

"I play Graceful Dice from my hand!" Joey said. "I roll a die, and dependin' on the result, Jinzo's strength goes up!"

The die was rolled, revealing a brilliant "4" on the top.

Joey threw his fist into the air. "All right!" he shouted. "Jinzo, you know what that means! Time to lay out the smack on his magician!"

Jinzo blasted lasers from his eyes, setting the Dark Magician ablaze. "I set a card and end my turn, Yugi, try and keep up!"

"Oh, I'll keep up," Yugi said. "And I'll do it with this card: Ancient Rules! Thanks to this, I can summon a high-level Normal Monster from my hand. Come forth, Summoned Skull!"

The demonic skeleton arose from Yugi's hand. Joey twitched a little.

"Now, Summoned Skull!" declared Yugi. "Attack and destroy Jinzo! Magic Lightning!"

As the Machine-type Trap blocker was destroyed, a fourth friend of the pair appeared- this one a female girl with scarlet hair. Her appearance was somewhat differring than the people around her, though. She walked through the crowd, eventually finding where her friends were.

"Hey, guys," the visitor said. "What's up?"

"Undyne!" Asriel said cheerfully. "The duel's just reaching its climax!"

"Sweet!" the fish-girl said, sitting on the bench, to Bakura's right. "Glad to see things heating up."

Joey drew his next card. "I summon Gearfried, the Iron Knight! Then, I drop the bomb: Shield & Sword, to switch the attack and defense values of every monster on the field! And that means that Gearfried now has more attack points than your Summoned Skull!"

Yugi smiled. "Good job, Joey," he said. "I'm impressed."

"This'll impress you, then! Go, Gearfried! Finish off dat Summoned Skull!"

His opponent let out a sigh. "But it looks like you forgot about my face-down card. Go, Magic Cylinder! Reflect Joey's attack back at his life points, and end this duel!"

Gearfried flew at Yugi- but a barrel appeared in front of the Iron Knight. Gearfried flew in, then the barrel did a 180 so it was now facing Joey. Gearfried flew back out, and slashed at his master, knocking Joey's Life Points to zero.

"Good going, Yugi!" cheered Tristan. "You did it again!"

Meanwhile, Bakura decided to comfort Joey. "He IS Yugi, after all," said the silver-haired boy. "Maybe next time."

The two real monsters, having witnessed such a show of game monsters, were still estatic over the duel. "That was great, you two!" Asriel began. "I'd love to play against both of you again sometime!"

"Don't get cocky, punk," Undyne said, giving the Boss Monster a noogie. "They're not the only duelists in the world, you know!"

"I know, I know," Azzy said, pulling away from the warrior's grip. "Let go of me already!"

However, just then, Asriel's phone began to ring. He picked it up, and put it to his ear.

"Hello? Dreemurr speaking."

The voice on the other end, clearly high and Southern, was not one Asriel was expecting.

 _"How do you do, Mr. Dreemurr?"_ asked Leichter. _"I suppose we ain't spoken in a while... Then again, you wouldn't have expected this call if your life depended on it."_

Asriel's jaw dropped. "Leichter, whatever cruel game you're playing, PLEASE stop."

 _"I'm not holdin' back. In fact, I need you to visit KaibaCorp. Island for me."_

"Why?" asked Azzy. "It's not like there's anything important there. Seto Kaiba blew up the tower!"

 _"Let's just say, Mr. Dreemurr,"_ said Leichter, _"that I have some things that are quite important to you. These items will never be returned to you if you don't comply."_

"What do you have?" Asriel asked. However, he was certain he already knew.

 _"I'm afraid your best friends failed to assess my motives."_

Asriel cursed under his breath. "What do you want, Leichter..."

 _"Come to KaibaCorp. Island. There, you'll know. Oh, and one more thing... Come alone."_

Leichter hung up after that. Asriel turned away, and began running.

"Hey!" Undyne shouted. "Where are you heading, punk?"

"It doesn't matter," Asriel said. "I'll be back soon. Stay there!"

Somehow, they knew he was lying. He had no idea whether he'd actually return. But they had no idea why he'd left in the first place.

Joey crossed his arms. "I don't care what that little fuzzball says," he told the gang, "I'm goin' after him!"

"Joey, wait!" Tristan said. "He probably wants to go alone for a reason!"

"It sounded desperate, Tristan," Joey said angrily.

"But Joey-"

"Shut up!" Joey shouted. "I'm going, and you can't stop me!"

Yugi crossed his arms. "Joey, it could be dangerous!"

"All the reason for me to help!" Joey yelled. "Azzy could be in danger!"

Yugi opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Joey was already running. He shook his head.

"He is so determined," Bakura said. "I worry for him."

"Chill," Undyne said. "Someone with that much determination can't be beat... It's a fact."

Yugi turned to her. "What's so special about how determined he is?"

"It's an old monster legend," Undyne said, "but basically, determination is one's will to live, and humanity has lots of it. It's why your souls can persist without a body."

"So, Joey having so much of it-"

Undyne nodded. "I only hope the punk keeps that spark..."

* * *

 **Good job, Glitch. You managed to put yourself ten feet deep again. Why can't I ever decide to do a one-shot?**

 **But in all seriousness... Joey is DETERMINED and that is a good thing. However, Leichter told Azzy to come alone which means bad news for both of them. Meanwhile Yugi just learned the truth of Determination, and how it played into Frisk's victories. (However, this means he WON'T learn in the core series- need to maintain consistency this time around.)**

 **What will become of Frisk and Chara, since Joey will be attending? And how will Yugi play into this? Find out next time on DuelTale: The Final Triumph.**


	3. Joey's Resolve

**Here's the third chapter of the Final Triumph series. As a minor note, I settled on a personal pairing for this series: Frisk x Joey (which kind of came out of nowhere, but hey, when I begin their story arc in regular DuelTale /Reloaded, I'll be able to settle it). Anyway, enjoy.**

* * *

At the Domino Pier, the shaggy beast was ready to face whatever hardships he would soon have to endure. This wasn't going to be easy, of course. For one, there was Leichter himself, and he was a bit of a wild card- he'd only been seen dueling on his own once. The fact that he had both Frisk and Chara in his clutches was also a red flag- both were powerful duelists, who hadn't put up with crap like this before. But he would still face the consequences of his actions, in time.

A rustling noise behind Asriel gave him a jolt. He turned around, seeing a figure in a grey hoodie behind him, breaking into a sprint. Clearly, he'd not wanted to be noticed. For a brief moment, Asriel considered sticking around, waiting for a boat. But then, there wouldn't be a boat heading to that smoking ruin of an island for quite some time. He shook his head, following the hooded man.

The guy turned a corner, into a back alley. Asriel made a sharp turn, following him every step. The man eventually reached a dead end, face-planting into the wall. The monster smiled, knowing who he'd found.

"I'd ask where you learned to pay attention to your surroundings," spoke Asriel with a sigh, "but then again, seeing that means I should probably ask where you learned to follow directions."

"That obvious, huh?" asked Joey shyly, taking off his hood. "Look, I just couldn't let you go off alone, Azzy. It just ain't right. You never go ANYWHERE alone."

"Truth is," Asriel explained, "I got a very interesting phone call from an old friend of ours, but I was told to come alone. I'm pretty sure you don't want involved..."

"Nah, I totally do!" Joey exclaimed. "Chasin' bad guys, saving the world... I miss those days! It's been a while since I dueled for something important."

"But Joey-"

"I've made up my mind," asserted Joey. "You aren't gonna be doin' this alone, you know."

Asriel opened his mouth to protest, but before he could, another voice spoke: "Odd, that's exactly what I'd tried to prevent, Mr. Wheeler."

The pair turned around, seeing a loudspeaker on the back wall, with a security camera above it. Crap.

"Listen, Leichter," Asriel said, "Joey didn't know why I was coming!"

"Wait, we're fighting this stiff again?" Joey asked, half disappointed. "For a minute I thought we were dealing with a REAL threat, like, say, Pegasus or Marik."

"That's not very nice, Mr. Wheeler," Leichter replied. "Sayin' that I'm not threatening, I mean. It hurts my image. I just went through the trouble of kidnapping a bunch of folks, including this boy's sisters, and you ain't even the slightest bit intimidated?"

"What?" said Joey, startled. "L... Leave the girls out of it!" he said, not mentioning either of them by name. Lucky that he didn't- Joey had kept his eye on Frisk for a while now, and he was fairly certain she had been watching him, too. But neither of them had made a confession yet, and he _certainy_ didn't want to see Leichter having hit his weak point, too.

Unfortunately, he had two weak points.

"I'm lucky I'd been planning for this contigency," Leichter said, grinning (although neither Asriel nor Joey could see). "Y'know, I hate to be rude, but I've been watching your parents' house ever since I sent Mr. Dreemur that phone call..."

Asriel and Joey's jaws both dropped simultaneously.

"Of course, Mr. Wheeler, none of this would have happened if you hadn't showed up. I'm near the place now, actually, and boy, won't my next victim scream..."

Joey couldn't speak. He was too horrified to do anything. He stood there in shock. Asriel, however, regained his composure and walked straight to the speaker.

"Leichter," Asriel said. "What you're doing right now is unacceptable. Frisk and Chara didn't deserve this. Serenity doesn't deserve this. Whatever you want to do, you're making massive mistakes!"

"I don't think so, Asriel. Yes, I may be doing things that you find unacceptable, but there are other people who I'm doing this as a lesson towards. Now, I think my men should be coming out with my hostage now. Ah, there she is... bound and gagged."

Joey finally growled in rage. "You... you vile... maniacal... DEMON!" he shouted angrily. "What did we ever do to you? Why are you torturing us?"

"As I said, I'm proving my points. You two left me and my friends to die in that digital dungeon, and I'm merely returnin' the favor. I'm making your lives _hell on earth,_ you hear? Now, why don't we let our captive speak for a moment..."

Serenity's voice crackled over the speaker. _"Joey! Help!"_

"Always the damsel in distress, are you?" asked Leichter. "Well, away with you. I have bigger plans."

 _"HELP!"_ shouted Serenity, her voice getting muffled as she was re-gagged.

"You're gonna pay for this," Joey said angrily.

"Good thing it's a low payment," Leichter retorted, before turning off the intercom.

"Leichter, you beast!" Joey yelled. "Get back here! GIVE ME BACK MY SISTER!"

* * *

"How was that, Mr. Kaiba?" asked Leichter over the intercom, telling Seto that his mischief was complete for now.

"You're a psychopath," the CEO responded.

"You would have done the same, if you were me," Leichter spoke. "We're not so different, you and I."

"If I were you," Kaiba said, "I wouldn't have rebelled against my company in the first place. I can't believe you're targeting completely innocent people and Wheeler because you want to teach me a lesson."

"And there it is again!" Leichter responded happily. "You say I'm a badguy, yet you diss someone who's fought on your side several times. Face it, all of this is your fault."

"You have the most twisted morals I've ever seen, Leichter," responded Seto. "I would gladly have saved you if you'd just apologized for trying to take over KaibaCorp the first time. But I guess you could never understand... What's next, are you going to kidnap Yugi's grandfather?"

Kaiba heard Leichter think for a moment, before the intercom went silent. Clearly, he shouldn't have opened his big mouth.

"I hope Mokuba's not starving," he thought bleakly. "When I find Leichter, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind..."

* * *

 **NEXT TIME, ON DUELTALE**

YUGI: _"I_ _can't believe Leichter kidnapped not only Mokuba and the Dreemur sisters, but also Serenity and Grandpa! Now we're forced to fight in a tournament that we didn't even want to fight in! Worse, the stakes have never been higher, because with every duel, we could bite the dust- for real! The good news, though, is that we still have one weapon left: the heart of the cards! You won't want to miss this one!"_

 **Give me whatever praise or criticism you want. With my lousy update schedule, the next episode should be out by at least the end of the year.**


	4. Milennium Theft

**"The next update should be out by the end of the year"**

 ** _looks at date of last update_**

 **Whoops. By the way, you can't do line breaks on mobile, so the formatting here should be a little different than normal.**

It had been a full two hours since Joey and Asriel had left the Kame Game Shop on their mission. And Yugi was still very totally confused.

"If you want," Bakura said, hopefully, "the two of us could go visit some people in town. That usually cheers you up."

He was right. Normally, when Yugi was feeling down, they took a stroll down the streets of Domino City, saying hello to old friends. It usually helped his mood.

"Make that three of us," Undyne added. "I've been wanting to check in on Alphys for a while. See if she's finished that deck of hers..."

"She couldn't copy you forever, Yugi," finished Bakura. "What say you to checking in on her? Perhaps she's finished work on that Cyber Dragon strategy she was talking about yesterday."

"I guess it couldn't hurt," Yugi decided. "Hey, thanks for talking it out with me, guys."

Bakura and Undyne both had a look on their faces that basically said, "don't mention it." The three of them turned to the road and began walking out.

Tristan walked out of the game shop from his bathroom break, only to find the trio gone. "Hey, Yugi?" he called. "Guys? Oh, please don't tell me they left me behind while they set off on some sort of grand adventure?"

XXX

It took roughly half an hour, but eventually, the two humans along with Undyne had arrived at the lab. They stared at the building, thinking about how far the young royal scientist had come since the barrier had shattered.

"You told me she was a tad depressed, right?" Bakura recalled, his eye meeting Undyne's. "That if it weren't for you, she would have eventually become suicidal due to the guilt of her past experiments?"

"It's a good thing she came out of her shell," Yugi continued. After all of the personal coaching he'd given her, not just for dueling but for social activities, he couldn't imagine what life otherwise would be like.

The three opened the door, but something was immediately wrong- the sheer silence.

"Uh... Doc? Alphys, where are you?" Undyne asked gently. Then, her voice began to raise to a panic. "Alphys, this isn't funny! Where are you?"

The trio began rushing through the lab, searching every nook and cranny for her. As they were moving past one of the tables, though, Bakura froze in horror. Yugi noticed, and turned to Bakura, with a "what's wrong" expression on his face.

Bakura began to stammer, then finally picked himself up. "Yugi... Remember how when y-you defeated Diva... And she took the Ring to study it..."

"The thing was DISENCHANTED, Bakura," Yugi said, not wanting to dawdle on. Bakura, however, kept talking.

"This is the box she'd locked it in... It's gone."

"Wha-" Yugi fell back in shock. The last thing they needed was for Alphys to go and get herself possessed AGAIN.

"Hey, guys! I found her!"

XXX

The good news was that Alphys had NOT gone and gotten herself possessed again. The bad news was that she was passed out, on the ground.

"Wake up!" yelled Undyne. "Please, we need you!"

But at that moment, Yugi's phone began to ring. He reached into his pocket and checked the caller ID. It was Grandpa's number.

"Guys, keep trying!" he announced. "Grandpa's calling!"

He rab out of the room to find a quiet place to answer, and turned on the phone. "Hey, Grandpa! What's going on?"

 _Yugi Muto. It's been a while, ain't it?_

Yugi gasped. "Leichter of the Big Five? But how?"

 _That's not important,_ spoke Leichter. _I_ _'m sure by now you've noticed my little visit to Asgore's Royal Scientist. Oh, yeah, I forgot you trained her so hard... Pity she had to bring an artifact of doom to her lab, that I could just use to seal her mind away..._

"You're sick!" declared Yugi. "Imprisoning an innocent soul, and taking something that used to contain an evil spirit?"

 _First off, you know I can't take a monster's soul, she'd shatter. I just warped her mind, is all. Second..._ _Revenge is free real estate,_ Leichter reasoned. _It is kinda your fault that my business partners are long dead..._

"And how did you get my grandpa's phone?"

Silence erupted. Then, Leichter let out a nasty laugh. _Head to the docks, Mr. Muto,_ he replied coldly, _or you'll never see him again. And one more thing..._ He chuckled at the last bit. _Bring the Milennium Puzzle._


	5. To Boldly be Going

**I honestly didn't expect to update this AT ALL this fast. What has it been, less than a week since my last update? I shouldn't be this fast! Oh well, extra free time. I'm not gonna dawdle, because my phone's at low power right now. All you need to know is that this chapter provides both setup for the first full duel in the series and a look in on two of our five captured compatriots.**

 **Also, I've realized that I started using increasing amounts of meta humor as time goes on. Oddly enough, that actually kinda fits into _Undertale_ 's narrative, so I didn't bother changing it.**

 **[Spoilers for DuelTale Classic and DuelTale Memories (season 5) inbound. Read at your own risk, especially since I haven't even started Season 5 yet.]**

"This stinks!"

Mokuba punched the wall again, angrily. "I can't believe this guy's doing all of this just for revenge on Seto and the others! I mean, holding us hostage, forcing them into duels for the death... Who does he think he is? Marik?"

He looked back at his companion, the young girl in blue. "Are you even listening?"

Frisk Dreemurr merely shrugged. "Eh," she muttered. "Punching the wall isn't going to help."

"What happened to you?" Mokuba asked. "I remember you almost as fiery as your brother back during Battle City..."

She sighed. "I guess guilt's been catching up to me ever since I got my memory back," she muttered. Mokuba had been the only one to see it happen, back during the Dawn of the Duel arc. [Which I haven't written yet.] "I killed so many people... Heck, mere GLIMPSES of my past led to Odion's death [Battle City Quarterfinals]. Thinking of everything I did before..." Tears began to fall from her face.

"I don't deserve to live," she cried. "I deserve to be back in that judgement hall, dying again and again. I don't deserve this new, fresh timeline that Chara helped build..."

Mokuba walked up to her, a solemn look in his eyes. "I get it," he said. "You killed a lot of people, and you think you're inherently evil because of it... Maybe you used to be the most dangerous person on the planet, after all."

Then, he slapped her straight across the face. "SO WHAT? The Frisk from the old timeline was destroyed along with it! That wasn't you. The REAL you."

He leaned back, thoughtfully. "Yeah, there was the Odion incident. Yes, you almost destroyed the world. But that doesn't change the fact that you also SAVED said world during your last stand against Asriel."

He had seen it all. Just him. The advantages to being seperated from your allies, he guessed.

Then, he looked at the two decks lying on the desk. He began sorting through one of them, and pulled out a pair of cards.

Frisk's eyes widened, as she looked at her own heroes. "That's-"

"Both your Flame Wingman and Inferno Wing cards," finished Mokuba. "Didn't think you'd leave the second one in your deck... Every hero tries to bury any negativity they have, but the light just can't exist without darkness. We all have good and bad in us, and you just have to accept that even the most sinister of people can be used for good."

"But-"

"No buts!" he spoke. "Just look at you! When Pegasus stole mine and Mr. Muto's souls, did you gleefully try to stab them? When Dartz was feeding souls to the Great Leviathan, I don't seem to recall YOU being the one to help him, right?"

She couldn't argue with this. Battle City was behind her, as was the Genocide Route. She couldn't live in the past forever. She was a murderer, yes, but that was then.

This was now.

"Thanks, Mokuba," she finally said. "I was thinking that nobody was going to trust me ever again... Not once they learned the truth. I wouldn't be able to keep it inside forever anyway."

"Don't mention it," he replied. "Now, about getting out of here..."

Frisk chuckled. "Don't try to punch your way out of here again!"

XXX

Meanwhile, the ship to Kaiba's bombed-out island had finally set off. There were only four real "passengers," and each half of them didn't even know the other two were on board, and vice versa.

At the front of the ship, the duo of Wheeler and Dreemurr looked out across the sea.

"You know," Asriel began, "after everything that happened during Battle City, I never thought we'd be going back to that stupid island. And on top of that, it's ONCE AGAIN to save Frisk..."

"Not from herself this time," Joey pointed out.

"Right," Asriel added. And then there's Chara, and Serenity... Yeesh, Leichter REALLY hates us, am I right?"

"Yeah," said Joey, not listening too much. "Hey, Azzy, I got a question. Why do ya' think Leichter started this whole business anyway? I mean, it should be Kaiba he's after. Dude created the virtual world, after all, AND was the one who took all the credit for the KaibaCorp takeover according to Mokuba, even if Leichter helped him..." He paused. "It's still Leichter's fault that he almost died in that virtual world. So why go after us for the actions of him and the other four goons?"

"Beats me," Asriel lamented, throwing off his jacket to reveal his reliable green shirt. It'd been over a season and a full-length movie since he'd last worn this thing. But it felt like it was one of the most important pieces of clothing, if only for all of those "twinsies" moments he'd shared with Chara.

"You look kinda dorky in that," Joey announced.

"Shut up," replied Azzy.

XXX

Yugi, meanwhile, was on the BACK of the boat. It was kind of quiet, but hey, this wasn't a cruise ship.

Alphys, after recovering from Leichter's assault, had told him that Leichter was planning on getting revenge on everyone who'd abandoned him. However, she'd also mentioned that anyone who'd tag along with him could be in for some serious trouble. And on top of that, she'd managed to learn that Joey and Asriel had gotten involved with this plot and were presumably already en route to KC Island. [We know they weren't at the time, just preserving tension.]

Bakura had seemed unfazed by this.

"What have I got to lose, then?" he had asked. "All of my family was killed or worse by the Bandit King, and Yugi's probably my closest friend... As long as he's going, I have to support him."

So here was Yugi, with no one but Bakura at his side. It did seem rather odd. Of course, odd things happened to Yugi every other month. First there was the Blue-Eyes White Dragon incident, followed by the Duelist Kingdom tournament... And things only snowballed from there.

Yugi looked over the side of the boat. "I don't believe it," he mused. "I'm going back to KC Island, just because a guy in a suit kidnapped my grandpa and some of my friends. This feels like a lot of deja vu, doesn't it?"

"I assume it reminds you of Duelist Kingdom," replied Bakura. "I also understand that no matter what happens here, so long as Leichter goes down it's all good."

"That's not really the point," the youth replied. "See, I'm still trying to decide what to DO with Leichter once he loses."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Ryou decided. "'Till then, what say you to some practice?"

"In dueling? Why?"

Bakura chuckled. "I have this sinking feeling that Leichter is going to force us to try and stop him by playing card games. It's what everyone else has done, right? Pegasus, Marik, Dartz, Diva..."

"I guess you have a point," Yugi realized. "Plus, I haven't been in a serious duel in some time. That duel against Joey earlier was all in fun, but I need to shape up soon... Why not start now?"

"Excellent!" said Bakura, pleasantly surprised that Yugi felt that he may need to hone his skills. "I'll give you some time to prepare your deck."

XXX

Back at the front, Asriel and Joey were adjusting their decks for this same reason.

"And I really feel like using Jinzo would help you out," Asriel said, adding onto a discussion that we seem to have missed while we were focusing on Yugi and Bakura.

"No duh," Joey figured, adding the card to his deck. "...Aaaand forty, with a four-card extra deck. Totally streamlined! What about you? You figured out everything yet?"

Asriel sighed. "I'm at thirty-eight cards right now, he said. "Just two more should do it..."

"Well," replied Joey, "let's see here... There's no use in a single Right Leg of the Forbidden One."

"I don't know if I should feel lucky for pulling it," Asriel said, "or cheated out of a fifth card."

"I figure you won't get much use outta Pinch Hopper," continued Joey. "Your deck has no bugs!"

"Yeah," Azzy reasoned, "it's more of a Weevil card than one of mine anyway."

Joey continued looking through Asriel's cards before he reached one that made his heart stop cold. "Az, I'm gonna ask you a question, and I want an honest answer... Is this the Seal of Orichalcos?"

The goatboy winced. "Ohhhh... Yeah, Alphys sent that to me, saying she'd found a way to disenchant it. I've been avoiding putting it in my deck though, mostly because I don't want to get judged about it."

"And maybe it should stay that way," Joey added. "That said, its power boost could come in handy, much as I hate to say it..."

"I'll put it in just in case," Azzy added, placing the Field Spell into his deck. "Let's just hope nobody brought an Orichalcos Stone to the island... And that Alphys was right about the disenchantment."

Joey continued fishing through Azzy's cards, grumbling thoughts of "I still don't like it..." as he went through. Finally, he spoke.

"What about Mirror Wall?" he asked. "It saved yo' butt back in Battle City when you were duelin' Kaiba."

"I guess it couldn't hurt," replied Asriel, slipping the Continuous Trap in. "That makes forty cards... What do you think?"

"Well, I definitely approve of almost all of your card choices," Joey replied, looking thoughtfully through Azzy's deck.

"Still not sold on the Seal, huh?"

"Look, Az," Joey replied, "I'ma level with you. I know that Doc took the magic outta the Seal of Orichalcos. I'm just not used to name-droppin' a card that used to be dangerous to both parties' health as a part of your deck."

"Well, then" Asriel replied, "just hope I don't have to use it in front of someone who'll judge me for it."

Wheeler sighed. "I guess. I still think we should be focused on the big picture right now- Leichter's a bad guy, we're the good guys. And what do good guys do to bad guys?"

Asriel grinned, knowing exactly what to say next. "We kick their butts."

XXX

 **Author's Note: I seem to find it easier writing original stories than AU's. Just remind me never to do a Total Drama rewrite or anything like that.**


	6. Card Games On Cargo Ships

**I spent the past few days working on this. It's finally ready to go up! And we will now see just how sick and twisted of a puppy Leichter can be when he's angry...**

XXX

Bakura and Yugi sat across from one another, ready to begin their duel. They were playing the old-fashioned way- with a table, and paper to write down LP changes on. Much easier to go unnoticed when your duel disk isn't blurting out the roars of every monster that's summoned.

Wouldn't you agree?

(YUGI LP: 4000)

(BAKURA LP: 4000)

Each duelist drew their first five cards. Yugi locked eyes with Bakura, then looked down at his hand. He'd only built this deck a few moments ago, but one could call it a "Greatest Hits" montage: the best cards he'd ever played, all wrapped up into one deck. The mere THOUGHT of it reassured him.

"Ready?" asked Bakura. "I Set one monster face-down, with one card behind it. It's your turn."

Yugi drew. "Okay," he decided, "I guess I'll summon the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (A1400/D1200)." He placed the monster in attack position. "And I'll use it to attack your face-down monster."

Bakura let out a sly smile. "Yugi, good move. But you've destroyed Sangan with that move. I'm certain you know what it does, as you own a copy yourself..."

"Yeah," recalled Yugi. "You can now search your deck for a monster with 1500 or less attack points and add it to your hand."

"I see you can remember your cards quite well," Bakura said. "So I hope you don't mind me taking my Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams with its effect."

"No, actually," Yugi replied. "I guess I lay one card face-down... I'm done with my turn now."

Bakura drew. "I play the Foolish Burial card to send my Portrait's Secret to the Graveyard. And then," he continued, "I play my spell, Premature Burial, to retrieve Sangan from the Graveyard at the cost of 800 life points." (BAKURA LP:3200) (Sangan A1000/D700)

He returned the level-three fiend to the field. "But I'm not finished, for I now play Dark Designator! I select a card in your deck to add to your hand. So, tell me, Yugi... You chose to use Summoned Skull in that deck, did you not?"

Yugi sighed as he added the card to his hand, with all knowledge of what card Bakura was going to play next.

XXX

"Are they really this stupid?" thought Leichter aloud. "Or do they just not know I can see their every action?"

He chuckled quietly. "I guess it's actually quite clever that Bakura boy has no one for me to threaten him with. After all, I am a gentleman."

"A gentleman?" asked the bound girl behind him. "You kidnapped me, mine and Joey's sisters, Yugi's grandpa, and Kaiba's little brother. All for the purpose of playing a card game with the top four duelists in the nation."

"I'm surprised you have the gall to insult ME, Miss Dreemurr," he told the demoness. "After all, durin' that whole Orichalchos scenario, wasn't it you who-"

"Stop!" declared Chara angrily. "No more!"

Leichter let out a nasty laugh. "It upsets you so much to think about the things you did. Honestly, you should join up with me for the same reasons as _him_ ; 'cause humanity is a sin. You know?"

"Wrong."

Leichter was puzzled. "What? But after the Battle City tou-"

"I know," she muttered calmly. "My actions of the last two years haunt me to this day. But you know what? Not all humans are evil. Take Frisk. She was the most darling little angel in this timeline, and after getting her memories from the last back, she broke down in tears. Yugi may seem tough for his size, but he'll do anything ti help his friends and family."

"Pah," Leichter grumbled. "So what? You met a few nice humans. That doesn't mean anything! Look at Marik! He was able to corrupt even your sister!"

"That evil was born of years of neglect and mistreatment," she argued. "Even he was good deep down. Humanity isn't inherently villainous. Not like _you_."

"That's quite enough," Leichter replied, apparently having calmed down. He turned to a pair of cloaked figures. "Take her downstairs. She's too dangerous to be kept in this state. She needs to be... Reconditioned."

One of the figures grabbed Chara around the chest. She was just another bite on the plate. A bite that would soon be fully digested.

XXX

"I activate Exchange," announced the silver-haired boy. "With this, we each steal a card from our opponent! You only have my Gross Ghost to work with, but with Dark Designator having just been activated, I know EXACTLY what card I shall take... I take your Summoned Skull, Yugi."

Yugi shrugged as Bakura did all of this. "You know, you've picked up some of the Bandit King's mannerisms over the past three years."

"I guess one could say the same for you and Atem," replied Ryou. "The two of us really have come of age now. About the one thing we NEVER picked up from EITHER of them is their moralities."

"Which is a good thing," Yugi said. "The pharaoh always was a little more willing to do more reckless stuff than I..."

"And the less said about MY Yami," finished Bakura, "the better. But where was I? Oh, yes... I Tribute my Sangan to summon your Skull, Yugi!" (Summoned Skull A2500/D1200)

Bakura returned Sangan to the graveyard. "And since Sangan was removed from the field and sent back to the graveyard, you know what that means..." He looked through his cards. "Hmm... What to take this time?" He finally settled. "Man-Eater Bug. That'll do. Now,"- and here the look on his face was focused- "I attack your Guard with your own archfiend! While I can't destroy it, the 1100 points of damage I'll inflict is worth it!"

"In that case," Yugi replied, "I'll play my Magical Hats trap! By using two Spell or Trap cards in my deck as shields, I can mix them around with my Guard to form a guessing game. But more importantly, it switches my Obnoxious Celtic Guard to face-down Defense Position, meaning Summoned Skull won't be damaging my Life Points any tine soon." Yugi pulled two non-monsters- Miracle Restoring and Detonate- out of his deck and mixed them around face-down with his guard.

"But just for fun, let's see what you would've attacked anyway," Yugi added. "You can't harm me, so let's see if you would have hit my Guard even with my Hats."

Bakura shrugged. "Eh, why not? Summoned Skull attacks the hat on the left."

Yugi flipped up his Detonate card. "Tough luck. But hey, you wouldn't have hurt my guard anyway..." Yugi looked at the other two cards, finding the one that was Miracle Restoring, and put it into the Graveyard along with Detonate.

He then drew his next card. "Oh, you're in for it now, Bakura. I play Brain Control! By paying 800 of my OWN life points, (YUGI LP: 3200), I retake Summoned Skull! But it's not staying, as I sacrifice it to summon the level five Silent Swordsman!" Yugi played the card, revealing a pale warrior with a giant blade and a trenchcoat (2300/1000).

"And there's more," added Yugi. "My swordsman ignores all spell effects while he's in play. Now, Silent Swordsman attacks your Life Points directly!"

Bakura smiled. "While I may not be able to halt your warrior with Spell cards, it's still succeptible to Traps. I activate Dark Spirit of the Silent!" He flipped up a card that showed a wicked ghost possessing someone. "With this, I can cancel your swordsman's move, and force your Obnoxious Celtic Guard to attack in its place. So while I still lose Life Points (BAKURA LP: 1800), it's nowhere near as bad as it would have been without."

Yugi nodded. "I guess I end my turn then."

Bakura drew in response. "First I activate the spell Pot of Greed. This allows me to draw two cards..." He proceeded to do so. "And I play Tribute to the Doomed. At the cost of one card in my hand, I destroy your Obnoxious Celtic Guard once and for all!"

Yugi solemnly moved the card to the graveyard as Bakura threw his Earl of Demise away. "I now Set a single monster."

Yugi thought long and hard. "If I had to guess, that card is Man-Eater Bug. I never saw you play or discard it, yet I knew it was in your hand. So, it only makes sense."

"You're correct, Yugi," replied the former bearer of the Milennium Ring. "However, this card places you in quite the dilemma. Do you summon a weaker monster to strike before my Bug inevitably destroys your Swordsman? Or shall you use the Silent Swordsman to fight against it first?"

Yugi drew. "How about option three? I play the Dark Hole spell, destroying both of our monsters." They moved both monsters to the GY. "And now that the road is clear, I summon, and attack for game with, Breaker the Magical Warrior!"

Yugi summoned said Spellcaster (1900/1000). Then, he declared an attack with the card, dropping Bakura's LP to zero.

"Well played, Yugi," spoke Bakura. "It appears your skills haven't diminished one bit. Just for fun, let's see what my next card would have been had you not played Dark Hole."

Ryou flipped over his next card- and was immediately flabbergasted. The one card he could have used! His Dark Necrofear sat smugly on top of his deck, almost as if some kind of cruel joke.

"Well, Bakura, look at it this way," Yugi replied. "You were one card away from giving my strategies a massive headache."

"I suppose," he replied. "Now, let's get ready. We should arrive any second now..."

XXX

Miraculously, Joey and Asriel had not heard a single word of Yugi and Bakura's duel. They were too busy arguing over the moral standards that Azzy seemed to have for his deck.

"Do you realize how many people lost their souls because of that card?" Joey argued. "It's gonna be the death of SOMEONE sooner or later."

"For the last time, it's DISENCHANTED!"

Joey was almost ready to break. "It- That's not- agh, forget it. But if SOMEONE loses their soul because YOU stuck that card in your deck, don't come runnin' to me."

"I won't," Asriel replied, sighing.

XXX

In the basement of Leichter's secret, ultra-villainous lair, Chara found herself strapped to a chair, unable to move. There also seemed to be some sort of seal around the island preventing her demonic powers from providing a quick escape route.

"Let's start with something light," the first goon said. He threw a switch.

All of a sudden, Chara felt a searing pain fly straight through her chest. She looked down uneasily, only to find a bloody spear impaled right through her body.

"The great thing about demons?" Leichter said smugly. "You can't DIE." He thrust a knife into her rib, drawing more blood. "You're immortal. That's both a blessing..." He aimed a pistol at her chest. "...and a curse.'

He fired three rounds, and each bullet hit their mark. The first went straight into her chest. The second struck her eye. The third her heart.

Chara felt every sting. Except it didn't feel like a sting. It felt more like her entire body was on fire.

And then, he aimed a beam at her, one that sped up her body's regenerative properties. Within seconds, she was back to her healthy state.

And then the volley of deadly weapons fired again. And she recovered again. Leichter let out a wicked cackle as she was impaled, sliced, and multi-shot a third time.

By the fifth round, Chara looked angrier than ever. Leichter's dark smile clearly showed that any semblance of good in him had perished before he was even born.

"Did that not work? You'll have to suffer more than that if you don't join up."

"I don't care," Chara replied calmly. "I was totally dead for six hundred years after my first attempt to wipe out humanity. Compared to how that happened... This is _child's play,_ Leichter."

"I see you're as stubborn as ever," the former KC admin grumbled. "Very well. You can be persuaded other ways, child. Your reconditioning will be beyond physical from here on out..."

"What do you mean?"

He lowered a monitor down from the ceiling. As she suffered, she would be shown some very disturbing sights. Across the past, present and future, she would be shown all of the evil in the universe.

And he would enjoy every second of her suffering.

XXX

 **And so ends ANOTHER chapter. As for the scenes relating to what happened to Chara during Season 4... come on. You all saw this coming.**

 **Huge shout-out to Ulrich362 for sticking around this long. Sorry I tortured your favorite character, but I have to prove a point as to how mad with revenge Leichter has gone.**

 **[Also, the barrier that held Chara's power in place... I just realized it's also a handy explanation for why Frisk and Mokuba can't just take a shortcut out of jail.]**


End file.
